Manchester City could win their Champions League group with a game to spare with victory in Turin on Wednesday, which would not only represent progress on previous campaigns but show how resilient the team have become in the short time since Juventus won at the Etihad in the opening fixture in September.
Three straight wins have confounded those who thought City’s latest European campaign was doomed to early failure, instead they were the first English team to qualify for the last 16.
And, while last season's domestic runners-up cannot be taken lightly, Joe Hart believes City now have the confidence to take on Europe's biggest challenges. "We are realistic enough to know a draw would be a good result for us too but we are going to turn up with every intention of winning the game," the goalkeeper says. "We could have the group sewn up before the last home game, and it's the first time we've had that carrot in front of us. It is a new experience but it is moving in the right way and that's what we want to continue."
Hart would be the first to admit it has taken City a while to come to terms with the demands of the Champions League. “It has taken a little longer than we thought. You realise quite quickly that one bad result can really cost you. In such a small table of four teams, one or two poor results and you’re dead. That’s obvious, I don’t mean it took us a long time to realise that but it can creep up on you pretty quickly. That’s what happened last year. Before we knew it we had to go to Roma and play out of our skins just to get through the group. That’s why it is so pleasing to be where we are at the moment, because everyone says winning your home games is the key to getting out of the group and we lost our first one.
"The funny thing is that we even took a bit of confidence out of the defeat to Juventus, because we knew we had played well and dominated a lot of the game. We lost because Gianluigi Buffon had a good game, we didn't make the most of our chances and Juventus took theirs, and that is exactly what the Champions League is like. You are in a much tighter group situation than you are in your domestic league, so you can't really accept a narrow loss. It's all out. If you are losing you need to draw, and if you are drawing you need to win. That's the mentality the best teams bring to bear."
As one of the players who has been involved in City’s Champions League adventure from the start, Hart is well placed to judge whether five years of learning and improving mean the club are ready to take their place among the smallish group that might be described as Europe’s best. “We are fighting in one of the toughest divisions in the world and we are up and around the top of it, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t compete on the European stage. I would back our squad 100%. We’ve got great owners, we have invested well, we have been given every tool required to achieve success in Europe. So now it is down to us as players.
“The club clearly wants to win the Champions League at some point, and the players have to adopt the same mentality. There’s no point in thinking that the last 16 is good enough, or reaching the semi-final would be an achievement, the only mentality we can have is that we want to win the competition. The only way we are going to keep our places and be part of all the good things happening here is if we do something like that.”
While City have clearly been working on building up a bullish confidence, retaining their game face in Europe will be all the more difficult after Saturday’s setback, when they were comprehensively dismantled by Liverpool at home.
Both managers agreed the final score could easily have been 6-1 or 7-1, in fact it was largely down to Hart that the visitors had to be content with 4-1. “It was a tough result for us, a bad day all round and we have to hold our hands up and congratulate Liverpool for playing well. But that’s gone now, there’s no time for feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve moved into a separate competition where a win would put us into a really good place.
“Football at this level is all about being ready for the next game, whatever the previous result. It’s the same as when we’ve smashed someone 6-0 or 5-1, you have to take the good and bad from the game and move on to the next. What you must do is live in the moment, in the now. So Juventus is presently the biggest game of my season and when that is out of the way it will be Southampton on Saturday.”
Before the Premier League resumes Hart, who is a BT ambassador, will crave the chance to catch up with one of his heroes in Italy. The goalkeeper makes no secret of his admiration for Buffon, his Juventus counterpart, who at the age of 37 has just broken the club's appearance record. Manuel Pellegrini suggested last week that Hart's own career might last as long, though the player thinks he would be lucky. "That is body reliant, you never know how the future is going to pan out. I feel good at the moment and I never want to stop, playing every few days isn't a problem but I don't know how that changes as you get older.
“It is easy to talk about records, but I am 28 and have it all in front of me. Buffon has actually done it, and because of his longevity, his quality and the way he has looked after himself it’s no fluke.
“I used to watch him on television on Sunday afternoons when I was growing up. He was massive then and he’s still going, showing no signs of letting up. He’s won the World Cup, he’s done the lot. He’s a real inspiration, and every time I come up against him he seems to have a great game.”
Juventus v Manchester City is live and exclusive on BT Sport 2 from 7pm on Wednesday. For more information, visit btsport.com/Europe
(Guardian service)
